In recent years advancements in technology have reduced the cost of computers to the point where nearly every event in one's day is recorded by a computer. Events recorded by computer are numerous and include, for example, every transaction made by an individual. Computers store the data associated with the transactions they process and this results in sometimes large database(s) of information.
The problem, therefore, arises of how to make efficient use of the tremendous amount of information in these database(s). When the number of records in a database rises to a sufficiently large level, simply sorting the information in the database provides no meaningful results. While statistical analysis of the records in a database may yield useful information, such analysis generally requires that persons with advanced training in math or computer science perform the analysis and understand the results of the analysis. Additionally, translation of the statistical analysis of the information in a large database into a form that may be useful for such activities as marketing is also difficult. Such a situation may prevent the effective use of the information in a database and preclude the use of a possible valuable resource.